The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5849

Chapter 5849 The Legacy of the Fleeters

5849 The Legacy of the Fleeters

The time had finally come.

Ves and the crew of the Dominion of Man had completed all of their essential preparations.

The warfleet surrounding the dreadnought had shifted the deployment of its elements and brought every vessel to a state of heightened combat readiness.

The tension among the fleeters was palpable. Though nobody had told them a lot of information, they were all smart enough to know that a big change was on the horizon.

Nonetheless, the fleeters were used to obeying orders.

So long as Dread Captain Volkert Argile and Fleet Admiral Stanley Argile issued their instructions, nobody thought about disobeying.

Sure, there were many fleeters who entertained doubts. It was human nature to do so. Yet each of them had been trained to obey when it was expected of them to do so. This was especially the case in wartime as any form of dissent or unauthorized initiative could ruin everything.

Unless their superiors did not do anything stupid like driving their starships straight into the local star, they were expected to act like diligent cogs in a well-oiled machine.

Ves observed everything from his post at the Brain Trust and developed a lot of admiration for fleeter culture.

The Red Fleet had its weaknesses, but its predecessor did not rise to become one of the dominant powers of the Milky Way by acting stupid. Centuries of brotherhood and tradition bound them together in a way that largely enabled them to maintain the loyalty and obedience of its personnel without needing to resort to a shortcut like a kinship network.

Though Ves did not think his Larkinson Clan was doing anything worse, he had to admit that his clansmen had grown far too dependent on the Golden Cat to keep them all in line. The consequences would be devastating if their ancestral spirit died or went missing one day.

Ves hoped that day would never come. He had already prepared a few contingencies in case the worst had happened, but there was no way to guarantee that his backup plans would fill up the gaps.

"Two minutes!" An officer announced.

The fleeters had already completed their last-minute chores and assignments. The armored figures had all gathered together to await the start of a secretive operation.

Ves and Sigrund were no exceptions. Neither of them were part of the chain of command of the dreadnought, but they stood at attention anyway in order to show their respect.

"One minute!"

The Dominion of Man never truly paused. Too many of her systems needed to keep running in order to ensure the massive dreadnought remained in working condition. There were also many spacers that constantly needed to monitor the titanic ship's activities to ensure that nothing catastrophic could occur.

Nonetheless, a huge number of personnel no longer paid any mind to their duties because their attention was needed elsewhere. Each of them were eager to gain answers today. It was not a secret that Ves had come and proposed a bold plan that would have massive implications for their proud warship. The fact that the dread captain chose to address the entire crew meant that they would finally gain a few answers.

"Ten seconds!"

Practically everyone aboard the Dominion of Man stood still.

Soon, projections appeared in front of every gathering of personnel.

They all displayed the splendid primary command center of the massive dreadnought. The tall and enormous artwork that carried the same name as their vessel could clearly be seen in the background.

Amidst all of the work consoles manned by armored personnel, a single leader stood in front of his floating command seat.

Dread Captain Volkert Argile chose to face his crew while wearing a formidable suit of armor with a cape flowing behind his back.

He looked like he shared a lot more in common with a Light Dread Marine than a warship officer at the moment!

While the custom suit of Dread Armor looked a lot fancier, it did not lose any of its protection or lethality. High-quality weapon modules had been attached to its frame, making it clear that the commanding officer was not above getting his hands dirty if the situation left him with little choice.

Hopefully, that wouldn't be necessary, but Ves could not rule out this possibility.

"Peace… may have been a boon to our race, but it also caused us to forget what warships are truly for." The Dread Captain said with clear disapproval in his tone. "The Age of Mechs may have been a time of restoration, but our society has become so accustomed to the new status quo that we do not know anything else anymore. This is not an unacceptable culture shift when our position became unassailable, but it is a disaster now that we have been plunged into the Red War."

The Great Severing ruined everyone's calculations. The opening of the Red Ocean was supposed to restore humanity's aggression, but only over multiple generations!

"If our race wishes to survive the storms to come, then we must regain the heart of conquest that we have buried when we bid farewell to that great but cursed age." Volkert Argile said. "We must remember who we once were. Compared to humanity that emerged from the Age of Stars, we are in a much better situation now. The rest of the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy may be hostile towards us, but we have much better technology at our disposal. The Dominion of Man that we are serving on is the most powerful manifestation of human power!"

There were 8 different dreadnoughts, and the fleeters who were lucky enough to serve on one of them all thought that 'their' ships happened to be the best!

Ves' personal favorite happened to be the Doom of Xenos. There was nothing that could threaten alien warships and huge phase whales more than a dreadnought-grade spinal cannon!

The Dominion of Man was not too bad, though. Her amazing complement of Dread Marines and her unique Rubicon Spatial Transfer System allowed her to capture a lot of alien assets that could only be destroyed en masse under other circumstances.

In other words, the latter dreadnought happened to be the perfect pirate ship!

"Many of you have questioned why we have engaged in preparations that are mostly symbolic in nature. Let me remind you that symbols have power in the Age of Dawn. The ritual that we are about to embark on places great importance on meanings and symbols. Let us consider the majestic name of our flagship. The reason why she is called the 'Dominion of Man' is because she relies more on human power than any of our other dreadnoughts."

Bang!

The dread captain loudly banged his armored fist against his thick chest plate!

"Unlike the Guns of Armageddon that can bring many more formidable gun batteries to bear, our flagship's true arms are our Dread Marines, the strongest and most well-equipped soldiers to ever exist in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean! Armed with the most advanced high technologies of the human race, we are all of the weapons that our dreadnought needs!"

A huge amount of Dread Marines became ecstatic when they heard this! They were far too disciplined to make any celebratory actions, but their pride and satisfaction clearly radiated from their thick suits of Dread Armor!

"Today, I am asking all of you to step up. Our dreadnought and our crew may be a handful of steps ahead of the rest, but that is not enough for us to win the Red War. This is why we must realize the name of our flagship and serve as a standard bearer for the rest of human society. We must make considerable sacrifices in order to elevate our mighty vessel, but I have strong belief that each of you will endeavor to work with me to make our human dream come true. The Age of Conquest has passed, but the Age of Dawn shall become our generation's triumph! Semper Fortis!"

"SEMPER FORTIS!"